6A – Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends

Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

Economic Trends:

1. Coronavirus and jobs in the US

A. Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51276323?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c1038wnxypvt/us-economy&link_location=live-reporting-story

B. Why this Opportunity Exists: This is an opportunity, because US companies have the opportunity to hire from the US workforce rather than outsourcing to China.

C. Who is the Prototypical Customer: The prototypical customer is any US worker.

D. Exploiting the Opportunity: This opportunity will be difficult to exploit, as the impact of this virus is unknown; it could be remedied soon or last very long and spread even into US. Because it is so unpredictable, it will be difficult to exploit this opportunity.

E. Why I saw this Opportunity: I saw this opportunity because I have been reading the news about the coronavirus, and have read about the impact this virus is having not just on people but also the economy.

2. Decrease of jobs in Retail

A. Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/05/booming-jobs-market-is-leaving-the-retail-industry-behind.html

B. Why this Opportunity Exists: I believe an opportunity exists because there are people without jobs (unmet need) that could be working in retail.

C. Who is the Prototypical Customer: The prototypical customer is anyone who needs a job, in particular who is comfortable working/looking for a job in retail.

D. Exploiting the Opportunity: I believe this opportunity is relatively hard to exploit, as jobs in retail are declining for a reason: because of the increase in online shopping. 

E. Why I saw this Opportunity: I saw this opportunity because both myself and many of my friends have experience working in retail; it was interesting to read that other young adults may not have that same opportunity in upcoming years.

Regulatory Changes:

1. Plastic Straw Ban in Gainesville

A. Source: https://mycbs4.com/news/local/gainesville-plastic-straw-ban-goes-into-effect-on-january-1

B. Why this Opportunity Exists: I believe the plastic straw ban in Gainesville is an opportunity because customers who are used to using plastic straws now have an unmet need.

C. Who is the Prototypical Customer: The prototypical customer for this opportunity is people who are used to using plastic straws.

D. Exploiting the Opportunity: I believe this opportunity is relatively easy to exploit, as this is a dramatic change taking place in the city of Gainesville, and people will be looking to see what the new normal is; there is an opportunity to influence the shift businesses take following the straw ban.

E: Why I saw this Opportunity: I believe I saw this opportunity because I am a plastic straw user; therefore, I see this as an opportunity because I am one of the customers with an unmet need now that I can no longer use plastic straws.

2. Legal Age to buy e-cigarettes and tobacco products rises to 21

A. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/health/cigarette-sales-age-21.html

B. Why this Opportunity Exists: I believe this is an opportunity because there is now a group (people who use tobacco products ages 18-20) who can no longer buy these products and therefore have an unmet need. 

C. Who is the Prototypical Customer: The prototypical customer for this opportunity are teen tobacco users.

D. Exploiting the Opportunity:I believe this opportunity is relatively easy to exploit because there are many teens who are more than willing to do whatever it takes to possess tobacco products.

E. Why I saw this Opportunity: I believe I saw this opportunity because many of my peers were affected by the legal age rising; they used to use e-cigarettes, and are trying to figure out what to do now that they can no longer legally buy these products anymore.